Woodstock Girls End Long Slide

Wasps Run to First Victory Since ’10

Connor Fegard of Woodstock tries to keep the ball in bounds after grappling with Dylan Rice of Hartford during their game in Woodstock Monday, December 23, 2013.(Valley News - James M. Patterson) Purchase photo reprints »

Cameron Gaudette of Hartford makes a break between Chris Townley of Woodstock, left, and Nehemiah Wood, right, during their game in Woodstock Monday, December 23, 2013.(Valley News - James M. Patterson) Purchase photo reprints »

Westminster, Vt. — A victory has been a long time coming for the Woodstock High girls basketball team, but this one seemed worth the wait. The Wasps nursed a big early lead on Monday night to beat host Bellows Falls, 46-35, snapping a 54-game losing streak dating back to 2010.

Woodstock stung early, leading 23-10 after the first quarter. The Wasps drilled three of their four 3-pointers in the early outburst, using good ball movement to create open shots. After the Terriers got within four points through three quarters, the Wasps did the job from the free-throw line in the final minutes to secure the long-awaited victory.

Mariah Luce (14 points) and Paitra Martin (11 points) led Woodstock.

“It’s good to get the first win under our belts,” Wasps coach Roger St. Hilaire said. “We just had to hold it together and take care of the ball, and we did. We had the lead and made our free throws in the end, which is what counted.”

Woodstock last won as a varsity program on Jan. 5, 2010 with a 53-21 home victory over Bellows Falls. The Wasps played at the junior varsity level last winter, going 12-1.

“Hopefully this will fuel us for the rest of the season,” St. Hilaire added.

Woodstock goes for two in a row when Green Mountain visits on Jan. 3.

Oxbow 41, Blue Mountain 27

Bradford, Vt. — The Olympians led 20-2 after the first quarter and coasted to improve to 3-0.

Penacook, n.h. — The Pride used its size advantage to pull away from the Cougars (0-3).

Zach Mattos led Kearsarge with 14 points and Carter Noordsij had nine, including seven points from the charity stripe. Merrimack Valley led 24-17 at halftime and then hit the boards hard after the break to gain the final edge.

The Cougars are back in action on Thursday at the NHTI Holiday Tournament in Concord.

Boys Hockey

Hanover 3 Manchester Central 1

Manchester — The Marauders jumped in front of Central early at JFK Coliseum to earn their first win of the young season.

Tom Peters got Hanover on the board in the first period, scoring with assists to Shawn Cavallaro and Sam Carey. Ben Hartman then added a breakaway goal midway through the second period after stealing the puck near Hanover’s defensive blue line and taking it all the way down the ice for the goal. Jonathan Goff added a power-play goal late in the second with assists to Hartman and Ben Chaimberg.

Freshman goalie Luke Ratliff earned his first varsity victory with 18 saves. Coach Dick Dodds praised the play of Matthew Goff and Chaimberg, each of whom were plus-2 on the night.

Hanover (1-1) faces Concord in the opening day of the Bauer Manchester Hockey Classic on Thursday back at JFK.